India News | Rs 4,102 Cr Already Released to States, UTs for Census Operations: MHA

New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI): A total of Rs 4,102 crore has so far been released to states and Union Territories for training of Census functionaries, manpower assistance, technical infrastructure and payment of honorarium to Census functionaries, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed Parliament.

The Ministry further said that training of master trainers, field trainers, enumerators and supervisors for the first phase of Census 2027 has been completed and is in progress in accordance with the notified schedule, in coordination with state and UT governments.

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Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Nityanand Rai provided the information in a written response in the Rajya Sabha to a query raised by several Members of Parliament.

Responding to the queries, Rai further said, "The first phase of the Census 2027 (Houselisting and Housing Census) has already been completed in 31 states and UTs. "In the remaining states, the first phase of the census is scheduled to be completed by September, 2026."

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Citing a notification issued by the MHA in the Gazette of India on August 3, the Minister said, "The second phase of the Census (Population Enumeration) in the UT of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand shall be undertaken from September 1 to September 30, 2026 with a revisional round from October 1,to October 5, 2026."

"There shall also be an option for self-enumeration from August 17 to August 31, 2026," he mentioned.

The Minister also informed that mobile applications for data collection and other digital platforms, including the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) Portal, have been deployed for the first phase of Census 2027.

The facility of self-enumeration through an online web portal has also been provided to respondents for the first time in the Census.

"Digital tools for the second phase of the census have been developed," he added.

According to the latest data collated by the MHA, the first phase has been completed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh,

Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Nagaland.

Census 2027 is being conducted using digital tools for the first time, with data collection through a dedicated mobile application while retaining the traditional door-to-door enumeration process.

During the Houselisting and Housing Census phase, information on housing conditions, household details, amenities and assets is being collected through a structured questionnaire comprising 33 notified questions.

The MHA has clarified, "All information collected under the Census Act, 1948, remains strictly confidential and is used solely for statistical purposes and development planning." (ANI)

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